Sony left Microsoft with an open goal by deciding to skip E3 2019, but after that bloated Xbox showing it’s pretty obvious why the Japanese giant decided to wash its hair. As expected, the team in green brought absolutely everything under its umbrella, but this was a press conference lacking in real surprises – or gameplay, for that matter. In fact, it would appear that Phil Spencer et al made a conscious effort to eschew real-time footage from the 60 or so titles on its stage, as despite there being an array of consoles under the spotlight, they never got touched. Not once.

It was in stark contrast to last year’s PlayStation presser, which focused heavily on lengthy vertical slices from some of the manufacturer’s biggest games. That format came in for some criticism, so perhaps the Redmond firm was paying attention, but the fact that it completely glossed over some of its major exclusives like Gears 5 – which, incredibly, is due out in three months – showed a distinct lack of confidence in the projects. Or perhaps we’re reading too much into things.

Microsoft wanted to lean heavily on first-party content, but despite Spencer being several years into his tenure, there’s still very little for him to actually show. This was a media briefing bloated beyond belief, as the company lingered on peripheral projects like a Funko Pop-themed Gears of War game for smartphones and an Age of Empires 2 remaster. It’s snapped up Double Fine and added the team to its first-party portfolio, which makes sense – it’s another studio that’s always been on the precipice of closure, which now has the financial security it needs.

Even the next-gen reveal went exactly as expected: a Project Scorpio-style talking heads trailer, where everyday people sit in front of a green screen and spew buzzwords like they know what they mean. The pitch is identical to the PlayStation 5: it’s got faster loading times, ray-tracing, and it’s the greatest console ever made. Except word coming out of the showfloor is that Mark Cerny has once again got the upper-hand, as perhaps reflected by Spencer’s reluctance to describe it as the most powerful console ever made. With a Holiday 2020 release date, Microsoft has 18 months to throw dollar bills at that particular problem this time.

Halo: Infinite wrapped things up, although there was no gameplay yet again. It’ll be a launch title, but the in-engine footage didn’t look particularly impressive, prompting us to question whether what we were actually seeing was next-gen or not. If that was our first look at the new consoles to come, it was a pretty uninspiring one – we’d argue that The Last of Us: Part 2, running on a humble PS4 Pro, still holds the graphics crown.

Regardless, this wasn’t the press conference that Microsoft needed: it was fine, serviceable, adequate, and okay. There was nothing really wrong with it: the pacing was good, the games looked fine (in CG form, of course), and the future of Xbox plods on. But it wasn’t the barnstormer that we’d expected in PlayStation’s absence – not even close. It’s not entirely the format holder's fault: we’re just at that stage in the generation where content is beginning to dry up. Maybe, when the dust has settled, there’ll be a little more understanding for Sony’s decision to stay at home.

What did you think of the Microsoft Xbox's E3 2019 press conference? Were you impressed by the showcase or severely underwhelmed? Did the company do enough in Sony's absence? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Forza Lego expansion and the T800 bonus for Gears 5 looked fun. The rest wasn't that impressive and or mostly CGI cinematic trailers which could go either way. And i found out that most of the 'World premiere' trailers are from multiplatform games that are also coming to PlayStation. I think Battletoads was a big letdown. I've literally been waiting for decades for a sequel but this looked awefull. I lost all trust in Rare after seeing this. R.I.P.

The only sore point is that Double Fine aren't on PS platforms anymore, beyond Psychonauts 2 and Knights & Bikes. Otherwise, there was nothing in that conference that'll make Sony sweat. Looks like they made a wise decision in skipping E3 after all.

They still have no new IP I care about. Ninja Theory's new game was a major let down. The show was also very game pass heavy. The thing is, Game Pass is something I'd buy if I already owned an Xbox, not something I'd buy an Xbox for in the first place. Make some exciting new games already

This has been the norm for their E3 media briefings, the Xbox media think it's good but it's just 120 minutes of noise and misleading information then 2 third-party announcements that are actually good.

if you check the replies it's actually funny that the people that boasted about the one x being more powerfull than the pro are now claiming that power is not that important. (this goes for both platform fanboys ofcourse)

Where was Forza Motorsport which normally launches a year after Horizon and even Fable which was expected last year. Any 'new' games (like Ninja Theory's) were underwhelming considering people expected AAA blockbusters - not some small 'free to play' looking MP game. Its something when you show 60 games and overall you feel like something was missing...

Even the hardware news was 'underwhelming' - the new Elite, which looks great and still the best controller on the market, was expected last year and the specs and capabilities of the next Xbox sound like the next PS. Its not unusual for both to be 'similar' as both are built by AMD but I expected something more. The only thing MS has over PS5 at the moment is a release window.

For PC and those that want to play Xbox on any (compatible) device, Xbox streaming is coming and all you need is Game Pass to play many of the games on day 1 for a nominal monthly fee.

As someone who does game on Xbox as well as PS, overall I think this was a B+ presentation. With some more AAA Xbox Studio exclusives, then maybe it would have been better but 60 games is still a LOT of games to play and a few will be Day 1 for me. Unfortunately, as a percentage, the Day 1 purchases are a small number out of the 60 shown. Sony may have the same number of Day 1 purchases for me but by showing 10/12 and with more time allotted for each, there briefings have a higher percentage of Day 1's...

It could have been better, could have been more exciting but at least it was no where near as bad as EA's was!!!

It was so over hyped. They should of knocked it out of the park being Sony isn't around. They didn't fail, just under performed. Nothing there really interested me. Including Cyberpunk (Reeves part was cool though) and Halo. And they just up chucked the same info for their next gen as Sony did. Barely anything about their cloud gaming.

Battletoads and Ori from MS personally looked awesome. Cyberpunk and OuterWorlds day 1 3rd party. WTH happened to MS Studios? Not a mention of Fable was sad. No Halo gameplay, Gears 5 has no identity whatsoever....sigh...

@Flaming_Kaiser Does it matter how many were 'exclusives' or that 60 new games are coming to Xbox for gamers to play. The fact that others may also get to play on their platform of choice is not a bad thing!

If MS did show 14 'exclusives' (not that I was counting to verify) and 60 games were shown, that is more than 20% exclusives - that figure was what Sony also stated - that 80% of games on their platform are 3rd Party in an article a week ago here.

Regardless of how many, what percentage are 'exclusive' as all (100% of the 60 games) will be coming to Xbox and playable on Xbox and so relevant to Xbox gamers.

Sony haven't shown more than a dozen games in the last couple of E3 shows and 'half' are also on Xbox too but that doesn't matter because 100% of them are playable on Sony too. I get the opportunity ro play 100% of the games shown by MS and by Sony...

I couldn't care less if no game was Exclusive as long as I get to play all the games that appeal to me whether they are published by MS, by Sony, by EA, Activision, Ubisoft, 2K, Square Enix etc etc

As someone who bought both consoles this gen, but switched from playing primarily Xbox to primarily PS4, I’m very disappointed. I was hoping to see what their new built from the ground up studio was doing. I don’t want to see the projects the studios they bought were working on prior to acquisition, because frankly, the only one I’d expect something awesome from was obsidian.

@BAMozzy Exclusives do matter. Xbox has gone the entire gen without any meaningful ones. Yeah games like Cyberpunk will be on Xbox as well as PC and PS4, but where's the appeal? What's the point in an Xbox when I can get most of its library on PS4 + PS4 exclusives?

As someone who owns a PS4 but not an Xbox they've given me no reason to get one

Keanu reaves appearance is cool, but thats about it. I was underwhelmed by scarlet, I though we’re getting spec on it, rather its just empty buzz word. Also combining ssd with solid state drive? Seriously? SSD stands for Solid State Drive.

I don't really know what people were expecting, the console isn't out for at least 16 months so they were hardly going to have a huge blowout of launch titles so far from release, that'll come next E3, that's when we can truly judge whether MS's renewed first-party output has improved or not.

I agree about Gears 5 though, that absolutely should have had game-play shown seeing as it's so close to release.

@ImmaturityRules yeah seriously they show us 15 minutes of the Last of Us 2 gameplay( If you can even call it that honestly) and they call Microsoft bloated this year. That Conferance was great and I'm excited to choose Xbox again next gen. Just saying Crackdown 3 was better than Days Gone.

There weren't any surprises other than phantasy star finally making it west but unfortunately it's only on Xbox which is a damn shame. Other than that. Tales of arise looks amazing. And I'm interested in Elden ring, Minecraft dungeon, and cyberpunk.

I think it would have been a greater mistake to bank on Sony’s absence. Or to act differently than they did.MS did their thing regardless of Sony’s existence.Doing things differently would have meant playing Sony’s game, and they simply can’t.It’s good for them that they try to march to the beat of their drum.That said, i still have no reason to buy their console.

@RevampedSpiderSorry dude, English isn't my native language. I live in the Netherlands. Why don't you stop being such a grammer nazi if your reply has nothing to add about Microsoft's showcase and only point out my spelling. I like to see you try to comment in Dutch

Bit sad at the news abt Double Fine. Liked the Day of the tentacle, Full throttle remakes, Broken age was okay but just don't see their sorta games fitting into the XB crowd .
Remember when Phil Spencer took shots at sony for showing games off too early? So where did that leave Halo Infinite last year & this yr? Phil would never lie, just like with Crackdown 3!

@AFCC Keanu killed it and he was Keanu selfaware of reading the promotional crap and still made it far out.Otherwise, the pacing of the whole presentation was slow and boring.Cyberpunk can't come out too soon.

Glad that Double Fine mediocre a** got finally bought. Would hate to see the studio disappear and they've had financial problems ever since they bit more than they could chew with that crowdfunding stint. I play their games and they have their place in game industry history, but really, lately they've been underperforming. Hope this gives them a boost. I'll play their games on PC.

Keanu was the win and I bet that if Sony had been there that part of the presentation would have been done on the Sony stage so I don't even count that as a Microsoft win.

Elden Ring looked, dare I say it, dreary. Another souls game with a protagonist with a prostetic arm and 'hard' gameplay. I would have liked something a little more leftfield from them. Mix it up a little. They are in danger of becoming overly repetitive. But then I only mildy enjoyed Dark Souls etc. I don't think they are the second coming of games

Overall for me it wasn't great. Lack of gameplay on most things was disappointing especially gears as it is 3 months away. Why did they have wrestlers under the stage and not show them playing the game very strange. Obviously Cyberpunk stuff was a big thing. The other highlights for me were Blair Witch and 12 minutes both looked interesting. Problem is Microsoft only seem to have Gears, Halo and Forza and not a lot else. There game pass stuff is really good just need better first party stuff I feel.

Sounds like Microsoft Show at E3 every year i.e it's like watching paint dry Gaming excites me still since the late 1970's but nothing that Microsoft do excites me at all. I guess it's a American thing I guess and maybe the odd UK Gamer still loves the Xbox brand to. Looks like SONY won E3 this year and they wasn't even there

As usual with MS, there were a few highlights but not enough. Although if PSO2 turns out to be exclusive to Xbox One and actually comes out in Europe then I'll be damn tempted. Apart from that, 12 Minutes, Legend of Wright, Blair Witch and the new Ori game all looked wonderful, but the big AAA announcements were dull to say the least. Completely agree that Halo Infinite wasn't particularly impressive graphically, too. But it's early days and I imagine that there will be some pretty spectacular environments to make up for the so-so character models.

"Quantity over quality" seemed to be very much the vibe i got from watching their showing. It felt almost as if the interesting games were being swamped by less impressive showings.

There was nothing in that Halo cinematic that struck me as a next generation title. It was a open goal situation for Microsoft to really put down their mark for what the next gen machine can do and in the end they hit the post. The showing felt nothing more than a cinematic trailer setting the tone for the story. With a year to go before the new console is released surely it would have been ideal to get peoples appetites going and give some in game footage?

Guaranteed at every Microsoft show that at some point a car will appear on stage.

@Kanji-Tatsumi Exclusives don't matter that much - as long as you are getting a few decent games, the majority of everyones game collections are made up by multi -platform releases. Of the 60 games that MS showed ALL 60 will be playable on Xbox ALL 60 will be better on Xbox One X, that's 60 new games for gamers to look forward too.

It doesn't matter that 76.66% (as @Flaming_Kaiser seems incapable of doing basic maths) will also be playable on PS4, there are still 60 new games from this briefing alone that are coming to Xbox, along with ALL the games shown by EA, and probably all but the odd 1 or 2 games showed by Bethesda (I haven't seen that show yet), Ubisoft and Square Enix.

As an 'xbox' gamer, that's a lot of new games coming that I can play and enjoy. The fact that I could play the majority on a PS4 too is not important - what's most important is that I as a gamer have a LOT of new games coming out that I can play.

As a fanboy, it may make a difference if you are too busy counting up who as the best, the most, or whatever petty fanboy argument you are trying to win instead of celebrating the fact that you get to enjoy a whole list of games you didn't know were coming out before today. Its such a shame that the fanboy in you both cannot enjoy the games without the petty 'my thing s bigger/better than your thing mentality...

I was hoping for more, especially something about a new fable game or more RPGs. I think that Sony is going to have some surprises in store just be announcing more info on the new system and games. I really don't think companies need a press conference anymore as they could do what Nintendo does and just do a 30+ min showing of games and products upcoming! I really think Sony has a lot up their sleeve! Seems every year when MS goes first Sony always pulls a rabbit out of their hat!

Can I just say.....I'm no fanboy or anything....but Microsoft's E3 show was complete and utter shash!! 60 games shown and 14 exclusives, all of which were underwhelming other than the multi plat Cyberpunk 2077. They are so far behind Sony. They could release Xbox Scarlett at twice the performance of PS5 and I'd still stay clear, same old same old Gears, Forza, Halo.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It was all CG and no gameplay.

I bought a gaming PC last year - in terms of power, it's miles better than both PS4 Pro and Xbox One X... and probably better than PS5 and Scarlett. But I've spent the last month playing Days Gone and haven't had the PC on except to update Windows and the AV software.

And with regard to the Xbox conference... I didn't bother watching it as I've no interest. I had an original Xbox and a 360, but both saw very little use so I haven't bothered with an XBO. Now I have a PC, why would I bother when the 3rd-party games and MS exclusives all run on the PC? With that and their lack (in my opinion) of worthwhile games, the biggest Xbox faces (again, in my opinion) is remaining even remotely relevant to anyone outside of their hardcore fanbase... and even some of those people are fed up and reconsidering.

I’ve read articles with a light dusting of “fanboyism” in the past as expected from a manufacturer-specific site; but here it is literally pouring out of every conceivable orifice. Whilst slightly excessive on the CG, Microsoft’s conference was quick and to the point just like last year. Yeah many weren’t exclusives but who cares, games were being revealed and you can only really reveal a game once as Square Enix discovered last year. After Sony’s absolute screw up last year where I spent numerous times screaming in hope that someone in the audience would throw a rock to whatever instrumental delaying tactic was on stage before switching off and cleaning the kitchen. Then I watched the actual trailers the next day.

The multiple desperate fanboy-bait articles on this site over the last 24 hours because Sony have literally nothing to offer right now is nothing short of pathetic and everyone involved should be hanging their heads in shame.

@lacerz For god's sake, I meant Sony are offering nothing AT E3 - that's why I said "right now". Maybe if you spent a bit more time reading my comment instead of Googling "PS4 exclusives", you wouldn't look so silly.

I thought Microsoft's conference was enjoyable but nothing amazing. Most of the titles we already knew about and there were a lot more cinematics than actual gameplay. Bethesda's conference was a snooze fest for me. Hoping Ubisoft and Square have solid shows. And Nintendo I am beyond hyped for. Still wish Sony had a conference but it's all good.

@BAMozzy I like it when you personal but you are right didnt know we would go into precise percentages. I guess you dont understood what point u wanted too make. But when its about Xbox i know you van get quite defensive. I should have said it different but i know if it was Sony you would be burning Sony down. BTW exclusives do matter for me that is why i own a PS4 i would not trade any 3rd party game for any of the exclusive games i own so stop acting like your opinion is fact. 😆

@Flaming_Kaiser When people make Fanboy and totally inaccurate comments against MS/Xbox, as someone who does game on Xbox too, and as MS/Xbox aren't here to 'defend' themselves, I feel compelled to do so. I would be exactly the same, and have been on several Xbox focussed, if I happened to see Xbox Fanboys making similarly inaccurate comments toward Sony/PS.

I personally do not have any particular affinity to MS or Sony - they just make the box that allows me to play the games (which is MOST important) that I want in the way I want to play them. I couldn't care less about whether it says Sony or MS, Playstation or Xbox, I just care about the games - I need to own both because both offer games that the other cannot play. I don't want a PC to game on so I have BOTH consoles.

Even though this is a Playstation site, its generally one of the most tolerant, least toxic gaming sites out there. However, because it is so Sony focussed, there are numerous people who take delight in behaving like a Fanboy, using any little thing to take a dig at Xbox. Whether that's to gain favour amongst other fanboys or because they are just Petty, I don't know but as one that has BOTH consoles, then I think its only right to 'defend' MS where it is justified. As someone who regularly makes petty fanboy comments, then you are one of the people that ends up seeing my 'defensive' side the most.

As far as I am concerned, if either Sony or MS deserve any criticism, then I would not hesitate to criticise. I freely admit that given the choice, I would rather that Sony and Microsoft focussed solely on their own products inc just the games they Publish. That being said, Sony (if you are being honest) have barely shown 14 games (let alone 14 from their own studios - and that doesn't count Spider-Man as that was by Insomniac) at any of the last few E3 shows. I must again admit though that I would rather have extended looks, more than 6/7mins on each game instead of 1-2mins advertising trailer composed of CGi and/or cinematic camera views of game-play - it can be difficult to determine IF its CGi OR some actual game-play but from a cinematic camera angle.

A 1-2min bombardment of constantly changing imagery to try to encapsulate everything the game is about, the story, the genre, the characters etc is really difficult to take in and before you even have a chance to recall what you saw, you are bombarded again with the 'next' 1-2min clip. If you (or anyone else for that matter) made a comment about showing so many small clips, then I would certainly agree - regardless of whether that is MS or Sony.

However, making comments like 'Xbox has no games' or 'all those games are coming to PS' (or 95% as you claimed) is absolutely ridiculous. Of those 60 games MS showed, 100% of them will be playable on Xbox. For those that ONLY game on Xbox, that's a LOT of games to look forward to playing. If you are ONLY on Playstation, a large chunk of them will also be playable on PS too and that's still more than Sony showed this year, more than they showed in 2018 and 2017 too - probably more than both combined. I wouldn't be surprised if MS showed more 'exclusives' than Sony did last year either - choosing to focus on a few games. Instead of choosing to slag off MS, you could be happy that a large proportion of the massive list of games shown will be playable by you on you platform of choice. MS probably showed more games than EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Square Enix combined and the fact you can play a LOT of the games too is not a bad thing for MS or for you as a Sony gamer. Its certainly not a Bad thing for those 'just' on Xbox because that's 60 new games coming out for them to play and so what if other gamers get to enjoy a lot too.

Regardless of what MS or Sony will be able to show, whether they are exclusive or multi-platform, as a gamer with both, I get the opportunity to play all and a large portion of the games, both Sony and MS gamers can experience. Sony themselves expect 3rd Party multi-platform (as in on Xbox too) to make up 80% of the games available - that's a massive chunk available on Xbox too - whether the games are experienced first on Sony (like Nier, Hellblade etc) or on Xbox (like Tomb Raider, PUBG etc) or released on both at the same time, what's most important is that gamers can get to enjoy the majority of ALL games released on their platform of choice and, if you do have just one of these consoles, get to experience a few unique titles too.

In my 'perfect' world, there wouldn't be ANY exclusives. You could buy just 1 box - whether its made by Sony, MS or other - and play every game released - like buying a Bluray player and it playing every bluray disc regardless of who made and published it. That way, ALL gamers are united and get to enjoy ALL the games they wanted to play - you also wouldn't get any 3rd Party deals that give some gamers additional content (timed or otherwise) so everyone gets the same for the same money. I know that's unlikely but as I said, that's my 'ideal'. I wouldn't have to defend MS from Sony Fanboy attacks or vice versa.

The big criticism of MS this generation was Games (or lack of). In the last 2 E3's, no one has shown more games than MS - this year the most games ever shown by one 'company'. Not only that, MS have added a LOT of new studio's to its Rostra - another new one this year - that's a lot of 'potential' going forward and, as we know, games take a LONG time to make so the 'fruits' of those acquisitions could take a few years to really pay off - but its good for gamers - Sony can't rest on their laurels and it will push both publishers to make bigger and better games for us gamers. Whilst I prefer a different type of presentation, as I stated above, MS couldn't show 6-10mins of every game and knowing Sony wouldn't be showing any, they showed off even more than ever. Was it my most exciting MS briefing - not at all - I preferred last years but was it decent, yes. As a gamer first and foremost, I have 60 games to choose to buy from just this briefing alone. That's more than all the other 4 (EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Square Enix) combined and, of those that interested me, again MS had the most. If you are a Final Fantasy Fan, Square Enix was probably better or may have more of interest but I don't like FF so MS won for me purely on the games - let alone an update on the best controller I have ever owned - not because its asymmetric design but because of its build quality and functionality. The 'Scarlett' announcement was like MS saying 'we know PS5 has these features and ours will too' - enough detail to be interesting but vague enough to tweak specs before release if necessary (Sony too of course).

If Sony/Playstation Fanboys focussed on Sony, then I wouldn't need to defend MS/Xbox. I can assure you that if MS or Sony did something 'wrong' I would be equally critical. I have been critical here too - if you can read between the lines - about wanting a more 'Sony' type approach to E3 with longer times to show off more about a game than bombard us with Quantity as MS did - but, on the other hand, because of the criticism about a 'lack' of games, I can understand why MS opted to cram in as many as they feasibly could and more than any other year. On balance, it was not that different to Sony's percentages (80% are multi-platform games on PS4) so their show was 'on balance' right.

If you had criticised the way MS opted to showcase games, cramming in as many as they could and not really letting any sink in, any have time to show what they actually are with game-play etc - I wouldn't hesitate to agree with you but attacking them because a lot will also be playable on PS is not on - especially when you got the percentages wrong. And for reference, I would NOT criticise Sony for showing 60 games with 75-80% of them being on Xbox - I would be happy that 60 games are coming out that I can choose to play. I would be equally as critical if the rushed through them and not allow any to have time to show what they are - as I am of MS's, but I wouldn't be critical of having 60 new games coming out!

@Flaming_Kaiser I am sorry my response was lengthy — as anyone who knows me will know that I can go on a bit, type up essays etc. However, I do think it is worth reading as it may explain both me and my perspective on gaming in general. The more abbreviated version is that I find myself having to defend MS on Sony sites, just as I had to defend Sony on MS sites. Its worse on multi-platform centred sites as you have both groups of fanboys attacking and/or defending.

Its easy to pick on MS here because the majority don't game on MS platform(s) but then there is few people to set the record straight. A Sony centred site appraising MS's E3 from the perspective of being a Sony gamer is totally the wrong thing to do. The best people to appraise MS's is their target audience - which is MS gamers. It maybe mediocre if all you are interested in seeing is the Multi-platform releases and all you get is a 1-2min CGi teaser but for an Xbox gamer, they got 60 new games to look forward too...